MPR News Arts Reporter Marianne Combs joins Steve Seel and Jill Riley to talk about the May Day Parade in Minneapolis's Powderhorn neighborhood as well as two can't-miss plays.

May Day Parade — The 40th (!) annual May Day Parade and Festival takes place Sunday, May 4, starting at noon, in the Powderhorn neighborhood in Minneapolis. Presented by In The Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre, the parade travels down Bloomington Avenue and features hand-built puppets and masks (some over 10 feet tall), music and performance in the street. The event is rooted in the local community and in contemporary issues, concerns, and visions for a better world. Learn more about the parade, include parade route and other info, on the In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre's website.

Passing Strange — This 2008 Tony Award winner is a play within a rock concert. The show follows an emerging African American musician from his garage-band days in Los Angeles to coffeehouses in Amsterdam, where he indulges in a rock 'n' roll life, and from there to Berlin, where he falls in with a group of political and aesthetic radicals. It is a portrait of an artist attempting to break free of his roots, only to discover he can't move on without a reconciliation with his past. The play stars Nathan Barlow and runs at the Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis until May 11.

Star City: a Russian space farce — Four Humors presents a satirical look at the Soviet Space Program during the height of its race against the United States to reach the moon. This play stages at the Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis and runs until May 17.

Marianne Combs joins The Current's Morning Show for the Weekend Arts Roundup every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Read about all the latest arts news at the State of the Arts blog at mprnews.org.